Comment Re:Mine goes to 11 (Score 4, Funny) 609
I don't think even the dumbest electrical engineer out there would design a dimmer with the resistor in parallel unless their goal was burning down houses.
Comment Re:Mine goes to 11 (Score 4, Insightful) 609
Nope, that's not right. Since we're talking about a resistive load, I can make the simplification that Power=Volts times Amps (and Power is proportional to Dollars).
We know that V = I*R. Since V is constant (120v RMS), we can only change the current in a circuit.
Undimmed the Light provides a resistance RL on the circuit.
Dimmed the Light plus dimmer (assuming a resistive dimmer, some are choppers, but I'm ignoring that now) provides a resistance RL+RD on the circuit.
So Undimmed the current, IL, is V/RL
Dimmed the current, ID, is V/(RL+RD)
That means that ID is less than IL and if the Power is V*I, then PD=V*ID is less than PL=V*IL. So less power is being consumed.
We know that V = I*R. Since V is constant (120v RMS), we can only change the current in a circuit.
Undimmed the Light provides a resistance RL on the circuit.
Dimmed the Light plus dimmer (assuming a resistive dimmer, some are choppers, but I'm ignoring that now) provides a resistance RL+RD on the circuit.
So Undimmed the current, IL, is V/RL
Dimmed the current, ID, is V/(RL+RD)
That means that ID is less than IL and if the Power is V*I, then PD=V*ID is less than PL=V*IL. So less power is being consumed.
Comment Re:Alternative... (Score 3, Insightful) 58
The point of this is to be able to use less chemo with the nano tubes, not using the nano tubes as a treatment for the side effects. If you can get away with less chemo, then the side effects will be less, and that's always a good thing. I took more drugs to deal with the side effects of the chemo than the chemo itself (and no, the pot didn't help me). Anything that can make treatment more bearable is great.
Submission + - Selling a domain name
mikeraz writes: Today I received Yet Another email asking if I'd like to see a domain name I have registered. I've been getting these requests since 1998 or so. As usual I replied with "No, not interested." Moments later I received another, higher, offer from the same individual. We exchanged emails and left it at "if you're ever interested please contact me."
I'm being offered enough to put a serious dent in my mortgage or a serious boost in retirement savings. So it is tempting.
Have you sold a domain name? How did the process work out for you? What pitfalls should I be aware of? What's the best practice for selling off a domain name.
I'm being offered enough to put a serious dent in my mortgage or a serious boost in retirement savings. So it is tempting.
Have you sold a domain name? How did the process work out for you? What pitfalls should I be aware of? What's the best practice for selling off a domain name.
Submission + - Bridge traffic powers its monitoring sensors
Roland Piquepaille writes: "Researchers at Clarkson University, NY, have developed wireless bridge sensors which work without batteries. Instead, they are powered by the vibrations caused by passing traffic. This is good news for all the people in charge of maintaining bridges, who will no longer to have to replace batteries installed in hard-to-access locations. As said one of the researchers, 'We have completely eliminated the battery from the equation. Hermetically sealed wireless sensors powered by bridge vibration can remain on the bridge without need of maintenance for decades, providing continuous monitoring of such parameters as ice conditions, traffic flows and health status.' Nice job, but read more for additional details and a picture of a wireless bridge sensor used to check the safety of the Route 11 bridge in Potsdam, N.Y."
Submission + - Politics Shorting Out the Power Grid? (eweek.com)
eweekhickins writes: Electric plants were built to be reliable, available, and efficient; not necessarily to be secure. That explains the past, but not the present. So why are electric utilities so vulnerable to a cyberattack — vulnerable enough to put national security at risk? First and foremost, you'd think utilities would treat these systems with at least as much security as you treat your mainstream IT systems. But according to security expert Joe Weiss, that's exactly what they've refused to do. "The bottom line is that the utilities simply don't want to do very much, and, consequently, what they've done is written a standard that provides all sorts of exemptions and exceptions and ambiguousness so they can do as little of what they consider necessary and not have to do anything."
And they can get away with this because? Congressional gridlock you say? Imagine the gridlock when all the traffic lights go out in Washington.
